Life preserving suit



' Aug. 21, 1945.

l s. KRoNHAus LIFE PRESERVING SUIT Filed Juner l, 1942 Patented Aug. 2l, 19.45 l

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE LIFE PRESERVING SUIT Semen Kronhaus, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application June 1, 1942, Serial No. 445,292

i (c1. 2 21) l 2 Claims.

My invention has to do with life preservers and; in `,its more particular aspects, it relates to improvements upon life preserving suits of the character shown' in my United States Letters Patent No. 2,244,163. l

I am aware that various attempts have been made heretofore to produce a one-piece life preserving suit but thos'e attempts have met with failure due to the fact that the suits produced were not in fact waterproof or were too heavy, cumbersome and otherwise impractical.

One of the primary objects of my present invention is the provi-sion of a practical and economical one-piece life preserving suit embodying novel and effective means for effecting Water tightness.

Another object is the provision of a life preserving suit which may be made of extremely light weight.

Another object is the provision of a life preserving suit which is capable of being quickly and easily donned, which may be worn with maximum comfort and provide full protection of the wearer from the water and the elements and which provides free movement of the arms and legs of the wearer.

How the foregoing as well as still further objects and advantages are attained will be clearly understood from the following detailed description of one of the presently preferred forms of lifepreserving suit in which my invention may be embodied, for which purpose I shall refer to the accompanying drawing, in whichz` Fig. 1 is a front elevation, some parts being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2--2'of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3--3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. l.

Referring now Vin detail to the drawing, I show generally at 5 a garment having leg portion 5a and body portion 5b formed integral with each other and preferably made of a suitable rubberized fabric whereby to be waterproof, although other flexible waterproof fabrics may be used. Integrally formed with the body portion are arms 6 terminating in mittenlike hand receiving portions 6a. Each leg terminates in a 'boot 1 which has inserted in the sole a filling 8 of relatively heavy metal such as lead which, in combination with the positioning `of the buoyant material hereinafter described,

serves to maintain the wearer in substantially upright position in the water. A lining member 9 is provided on the body interior and the space between the lining and body wall is preferably filled with a buoyant material such as kapok I0. It is well known that such materials sometimes become water logged after a relatively short time if exposed to the water-and so i'n my suit the buoyant material is thus protected from exposure to the water. The buoyant material I0 is positioned largely above the longitudinal center of the suit so that as the weight material 8 pulls the feet downwardly'into the water, the head portion will swing upwardly out of the water about the buoyant section as a pivot point.

The neck portion of the garment is provided with aring Il composed of segments Ila, Hb, llc. Ild hingedly connected at I2 for lateral expansion. Segment Ild-is shown as carrying, at its front end, a resilient fastener i4 adapted to resiliently engage in the socket member l5 provided in the front end of segment Ila. Thereby the neck ring may be opened and the segments swung outwardly to facilitate donning and removing the suit. Ring Il is preferably made of a suitable plastic although it may be composed of wood or any other suitable material not having Mundue weight, it being preferable that the ring have substantial body and stiffness. The neck portion of the bodyl fabric is formed around the ring Il and cemented to the body interior at lll so as to enclose the ring. Over the hinges I2 the neck fabric I1 hasI a relatively loose fit to permit the segments to be` swung apart without injuring the fabric.,

The helmet .20 is likewise preferably made of a rubberized exible fabric having its periph.- eral edge portion 2| at the extreme back cemented to the back portion of the neck member covering I'l to provide` a connection of the helmet to the ring l I which will permit the helmet to be swung back (Fig. 3). The remainder of the peripheral edge portion of the neck of the helmet is formed about and cemented to the elastic member 26 which detachably secures the said remaining neck portion of the helmet in the annular groove 25 provided in the ring. The front of the helmet is provided with a window 28 covered by a transparent plastic mem ber 29 having its peripheral edges cemented around Vthe edge of the Window. Breathing openings 30 are provided through the member 29 The front of the body portion 5b is slitted downwardly from the neck as shown at 35, -the slit intersecting the neck and extending downwardly below the waist line. To provide for expansion of the body portion whereby to permit the user to don the suit and at the same time to provide the positive water-tightness, I provide an expansion and sealing strip 38 which, when the suit is in closed position Vas shown in Figs. 1 and 4, is folded upon itself within the body of the suit, the opposite sides edges 3l of this strip being cemented to the body portion along the respective sides of the slit, as shown at 36. For closing the slit and drawing the opposite edges of the strip 38 together I provide a conventional zipper 39 having its respective sides cemented along the respective edges of the strip 38. As shown by dotted lines in Fig. l, strip 38 is of gradually increased width from the lower end of the slit lupwardly towards the neck and thus permits suincient expansion of the suit to permit the user to insert his body through the neck portion and yet it eiectively seals the interior of the suit against admission of water even if some water should enter through -the zipper member. Of course other closure members may be substituted for the zipper since thismember does not necessarily have to provide a water-tight closure in view of the constructionl and arrangement oi the sealing` strip 38.

To don Ithe suit, the front Aand side peripheral portions of the neck of the helment are removed from the ring groove 25 by manually stretching the elastic member 26. The resilientI fastening members M, I5 are then disengaged and the ring segments swung outwardly about their hinge conwardly and remains attached to the suit by its the front of the suit and the ring segments arel swung together until the resilient fastener M engages socket member4 I5, after which the helmet -of the invention as is applied over the head and the elastic 26 engaged in groove 25. The user is then equipped sufliciently to jump overboard if he is on a sinking ship for instance, and he .is not only kept afloat but he is also protected from the water and elements until rescued. If the user desires, he may release and throw the helmet backward so that his entire head is exposed, or he may keep the helmet over his head for protection, the openings 30 permitting him to breathe.

VWhile, in the foregoing description, I' have resorted to various details of structure and assodetails. Rather, various modiiications and adaptations maybe made within the Ibroader scope l defined by the appended claims.

l1. A life-preserving device of the class `described comprlsing a garment member adapted to receive and enclose the body ofthe user, said garment member having a neck opening, a longitudinal slit intersecting the neck opening whereby to enable the user to don the garment by pull-v ing it longitudinally over the body, and a laterally lexpansible ring secured to the garment around the neck opening, said ring being 'composed of hinged segments detachably secured together in end-to-end engagement at the front ends thereof. y

2. In a life preserving suit presenting a laterally expansible neck-dening member, a helmet having at its, back portion a depending fabric web secured to the back portion of the neck-deiining Imember, whereby to render the helmet swingable relative to said member, and elastic means in the lower peripheral edge portion of the helmet to yieldably constrict about the neck- 40 defining member.

SEMEN KRONHAUS. 

